Vancouver council makes 'historic' move toward shark fin ban

Darah Hansen, Vancouver Sun09.18.2012

This Feb. 14, 2011 photo shows shark fins available for sale at $480 and $495 a pound at a store in Chinatown in San Francisco. Calif. Vancouver B.C. Coun. Kerry Jang says he'll use a couple props from his mother's closet today to kick off his campaign to ban the sale and trade of shark fins in much of the Lower Mainland and to show the ban isn't an effort to demonize anyone. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Paul Sakuma

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VANCOUVER - The City of Vancouver will work with neighbouring municipalities to develop a ban on the sale of shark-fin products, mayor and council agreed Tuesday.

“This is not an attack on culture,” said Coun. Kerry Jang, who proposed the idea of a joint ban with Richmond and Burnaby on the controversial delicacy.

“Rather, it is a recognition of an ethical issue that effects all of us, no matter who you are.”

Within Chinese culture, serving shark fin has long been viewed as a means of honouring a special guest or occasion.

But with millions of sharks killed globally to support the tradition, Jang said it’s time the old ways were changed.

“There are so many ways to say to a guest ‘You are really special’ without having to eat this,” he said.

Under mounting public pressure, top restaurants around the world, including Hong Kong, have voluntarily removed shark-fin products from their menus. The Chinese government has also announced its intentions to phase out serving shark fin at official banquets within three years.

Locally, Vancouver, Burnaby and Richmond have the largest number of businesses selling shark- fin products. All three municipalities have agreed to work together to support a ban.

Port Moody, North Vancouver and Coquitlam have already banned the sale of shark-fin products.

Animals rights groups immediately hailed the move as historic, saying it will eliminate a huge market for the Asian delicacy and help save sharks from extinction.

"A prohibition on shark fin trade in Vancouver, Richmond and Burnaby will be a monumental step forward in saving countless sharks from the cruel and ecologically devastating practice of shark finning," said Gabriel Wildgen, of Humane Society International/Canada.

But David Chung, a restaurateur and head of the B.C. Asian Restaurant and Cafe Owners Association in nearby Richmond, vowed to fight any ban and is already working on a petition.

People should have a right to choose the food they eat, he said.

He vowed to organize protests and even take legal action if a ban is imposed.

Chung said all the products he serves come with a certificate of origin and are inspected by government officials. None is obtained through the process of finning —where the fins are cut from the shark and the animal is thrown back in the water to die, he said.

He said a ban would be "culturally insensitive."

"When you thank somebody who has done you a favour, you want to show them your appreciation, you don't treat them to sweet and sour pork . . . because that's not enough to demonstrate your sincerity," he said.

"So you treat them to something better, more expensive. So shark fin soup is one of those items."

Coquitlam, Port Moody, North Vancouver City and Maple Ridge already support shark fin sales bans in their cities.

Six cities in Ontario have shark fin bans, including Toronto, and the states of Washington, California, Oregon, Illinois and Hawaii also ban shark fins.

Some Vancouver area business associations representing Asian restaurants say they do not support a shark fin ban.

Jang said he'll be in Victoria next week at the annual Union of British Columbia Municipalities convention to support a motion that seeks a provincewide ban on the possession, sale and distribution of shark fin

North Vancouver City Coun. Craig Keating said UBCM delegates who represent the province's cities, towns and villages will be asked to support a provincewide shark fin ban that says "shark fin harvesting is an inhumane and wasteful practice serving a very narrow and sometimes criminal marketplace."

Keating said he was convinced the shark-fin market threatens the survival of the shark species and impacts the future of other species.

The UBCM motion also calls on the federal government to ban the import of shark fins into Canada.

with files from The Canadian Press

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